The Engagement
by haru-chan and rinrin
Summary: Shot with a poisoned bullet by an enemy during his attempt to kill of his fiance, Furihata, to break off their engagement which his father refuses to break, and now, only had 124 days to live before the poison in the bullet completely takes effect and kills him, Akashi who had turned back into a kid as a side effect didn't think that there was still time to fall in love.
1. Is This the End?

**Act 1**

—_Is This the End? _

* * *

"You. Are you Furihata Kouki?"

Furihata was just on his way home when, as he passed by the usually empty on weekdays playground he would usually pass by on his way to his house, an unfamiliar person approached him.

The person had vibrant red hair and a pair of heterochromic eyes of gold and red. He wasn't the tallest and the most muscular man out there, but he had a good built—in fact, his body seemed like it had perfect proportion or something. His skin—don't get Furihata started with it (okay, too late)—was just perfect. Small pores, flawless, velvety and smooth (or at least that was how it seemed). This man was just plain _beautiful_.

But then again, you do know what they say: Nothing's perfect.

The redhead took a few steps closer to Furihata. From around five meters, their gap had closed down to no more than two meters. It was only then when the mousy boy noticed the iciness of the stranger's gaze (or was that a glare?) and the heaviness of his aura. For some reason, he found himself frozen on his feet.

His breath hitched after hearing the beautiful stranger speak again.

It was like a low hiss, how he let the words flow out of his mouth.

"I hate repeating myself. _Now_, answer me. Are you, or are you not Furihata Kouki?"

In spite of the natural beauty of the stranger, he was just downright scary.

* * *

Although hesitant, Furihata felt compelled to answer the stranger's question in an instant. Almost witlessly, fidgeting, he squeaked, "Y-Yes, t-that's me!"

The imaginary shadow floating above the stranger's face disappeared. Along with the shadow also vanished the grim frown that was plastered on his face all along. He broke out into a slight smirk right after. Suddenly, he pulled out a knife under his sleeve.

Seeing the knife, Furihata's eyes widened and his arms shook. His heart rate increased and his (cold) sweating began intensifying by the second. Although his mouth was slightly hanging, nothing other than air came out from it. Words—as much as he would want to scream (for help), he couldn't. Perhaps this was what people meant when they say the cat got their tongue. There was just something in the way that redhead looked at him that petrified him down to the soul—something that rendered him breathless.

'_He's so…beautiful—wait! Fu—No! Kouki, no! Jesus, what are you thinking!? The guy has a knife and he knows you name! This isn't the time to appreciate beauty! G-Gwargh! S-Snap out of it!'_

"H-hey… u-uhmm… a-are y-you…"

He was supposed to be running away, really. He was supposed to be shouting for help, seriously. But no. Instead of asking for help—

"…free on Saturday?"

—He just asked the mugger (or was it assassin?) with a beautiful face out.

'_Kouki, what are you doing, you moron!? Not only does he seem like he's about to beat the living daylights out of you __**for good**__, but you're also straight! What the hell, man!?'_

* * *

The redhead's smirk disappeared. With a bemused look on his face, he spun the knife with his fingers (his index finger and middle finger respectively). Now holding it like how a _kunai _should be held (or was usually held), he shot the mousy brunette with a similar glare he sent him earlier, only this time, it was more menacing. This time, there was killer intent in his gaze.

Completely ignoring Furihata's rambling (invitation to go out with him), he nonchalantly announced, as if it was the most normal thing to say to someone you just met while holding a sharpened knife, "I declare this engagement off, whether my father agrees or not. And to officially put an end to this misery, I will now put an end to your pathetic excuse of a life."

Furihata jolted, "E-Engagement!? H-hey, I… I only a-asked y-you out! W-w-what a-are you t-talking a-about? I don't even k-know your name!"

Again, he was ignored, "Prepare to die, mouse."

"M-Mouse!? I-isn't t-that a b-bit r-rud—WHAT THE HELL!?"

Without any warning, the stranger swung his weapon. Only (what surprised Furihata was that), instead of stabbing him, the redhead had stabbed his own hand.

"O-OH MY GOD, Y-YOU'RE BLEEDING!"

The stranger casually pulled the knife out of his hand and tossed it aside. His expression not changing, he plainly replied, "I know. That's the whole point."

Furihata tilted his head and blinked a couple of times, "H-hu—HOLY CRAP!"

With legs shaking and (actually) whole body trembling, Furihata lost his balance and fell aback, down on his behind. If he was somewhat petrified before and after the young man took out the knife, he was completely frozen after the stranger pulled the knife out of his hand. The droplets of his blood that were falling on the ground, they were literally melting the concrete. If that wasn't crazy enough, the blood that was oozing out of his hand—it was solidifying, and it seemed like it was also turning into something—an object.

"W-what t-the…hell?"

The way his heart beat—it was almost as if there was a monster inside his chest trying to break free. It was pounding that hard. How could it possibly not, the solidified blood—that now looked like red glass—just turned into some sort of broadsword, and now, the man was slowly advancing (walking) towards him.

He was going to die; he was going to die; he was definitely going to die, wasn't he?

"Engagement ends today, and so does your life."

Yes. He was seriously going to die, because of a goddamn engagement he didn't even know anything about too.

Life—he should've spent it more wisely.

Furihata closed his eyes tightly. His fist clenched and his head turned away from the direction where his killer was coming from.

'_I haven't even gone to a date yet—not a single one!'_

The attacker raised his weapon. Swiftly, he swung his blade then muttered lowly:

"Die."

* * *

**TBC…**

* * *

A/R (Author's Rambling HAHA): Thanks for reading! Just so you all know, Akashi-kun's ability is based from the ability of Kuriyama-san from Kyoukai no Kanata. Before you get the wrong idea though, this fanfic isn't KnK AU. It's just a… well… a supernatural AU. Yeah.


	2. State of Panic

**Act 2**

—_State of Panic_

* * *

The attacker raised his weapon. Swiftly, he swung his blade and muttered lowly:

"Die."

Really, at that moment, Furihata wasn't going to lie—he really thought he was going to die. In fact, his life already began to flash before his very (closed) eyes. Feeling the blade slice through the wind, he was just waiting for it to pierce through his skin actually. His breathing had already stopped and it was like his heartbeat halted.

'_I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna—'_

"Killing your fiancé, now, aren't you, Akashi?"

After the owner of the unfamiliar voice had spoken, Furihata felt the movement of the sword stop. Assuming that was the case, he was able to open his eyes, only to see the red blade pointing at him, just a few centimeters away from his neck. His face paled and his body froze again. Even after the redhead had already put his weapon down, away from him (and turned to the new person in the area), he still couldn't find any strength to move, and ended up overhearing the conversation between his attacker and the gray haired man standing a few meters behind the redhead.

Akashi had put his weapon down and turned to the direction where the remark came from. That voice, just as he thought, "What do you want, Chihiro?" he shot the medium gray haired boy a nasty look. Of all the times he could pop out, it just had to be now that he was at the verge of successfully killing his fiancé and breaking off their engagement. Really, how annoying.

Despite the intensity of his glare, Chihiro's face remained deadpanned. Casually, he replied, "Revenge."

Not giving Akashi any time to contemplate about his words—pretty much just like how he didn't give Furihata any time to explain himself about the whole engagement thing, quickly, Chihiro pulled out a gun and shot Akashi on the shoulder.

Having been shot, Akashi snorted, "On the shoulder, really? Wasn't your aim supposed to be better than tha—" his taunt was cut off by an intense heartache. His vision began to double and his head started throbbing. Occupied by the pain and distorted vision, he fell on his knees and eventually, he was completely on the ground.

"Slow and painful deaths are best when it comes to revenge, didn't you know? Anyway, you have 124 days to live. I might give you the antidote, if you find me that is. For the meanwhile, I suggest you live as if you were to die. Farewell, Akashi."

Saying so, the boy disappeared into the shadows.

"Y…you…" he was able to mutter out before he lost his consciousness.

* * *

Witnessing his attacker get shot down by _his _attacker and now saving his attacker after the attacker of his attacker unintentionally saved him, Furihata was in some sort of state of panic. What was he doing? What was happening? He couldn't give a single fuck anymore. All he knew was that, this Akashi boy had just turned into a seven years old kid and he was now carrying him, on his back as his shoulder and hand bled like heavily, to his house. Yes, he was carrying the person who just tried to kill him to his house. Why? Because if any normal human found out about this, this will become headline on tonight's news. Definitely.

Rule number one if you're an underage little shit and something like this happens to you: Call your parents—yes, not the police, but your parents. Don't they always imply they know everything? Well, it's time you put them to a situation to prove that.

Arriving at his house, Furihata kicked the door open.

"What's the fuss all abou—KOUKI, IS THAT AN AKASHI ON YOUR BACK?" his dad, who was on his day off that day, literally screamed.

Furihata was just about to give his father a proper answer only to realize what he just said. His eyes widened. Accusingly, he pointed his finger at him, "DAD, HOW DID YOU KNOW!? DO YOU KNOW HIM? HIS KIND? THEM? DO YOU NOW ABOUT ANY OF THESE"

"T-The floor is melting, K-Kouki! Only those who belong in the Akashi lineage have blood as acidic as the blood of the one you're carrying, son! A-anyway, c-chitchats later! Jesus, bring him in! Put him on the couch or your bed or something, I'll go call Shuuji." Furihata's father brushed aside and demanded.

Seeing the blood all over the floor and their molten flooring, Furihata decided to set his questions aside and follow his dad's instructions. Lying the shrunken Akashi on their couch, Furihata looked for a cloth to cover his wounds. Much to his dismay, all the cloths he found deteriorated at the touch of the redhead's blood. It was only after a while did he realize that the only thing that wasn't affected by this acidity was his self. Realizing so, he sanitized his hands and used them covered the wounds.

Ahh, but it wasn't as effective as a cloth.

"DAD, THE BLEEDING WON'T STOP! CLOTHS JUST DISINTERGRATE!" Furihata yelled.

"CUT YOURSELF, GET A CLOTH THEN SOAK IT WITH YOUR BLOOD. THAT SHOULD PREVENT HIS BLOOD FROM EATING AWAY THE CLOTH." Mr. Furihata yelled back.

"C-Cut m-my w-what and soak t-the cloth w-with w-what!?" he gasped.

"SON, IF YOU WANT THINGS TO WORK OUT, JUST TRUST ME—Oh. Hello. Shuuji, there's something I need to talk with you about. Yeah…" with that final advice, his dad went out to chat with this Shuuji person.

Noticing that the bleeding wasn't lessening, Furihata got away from Akashi. With chest pounding and brows furrowed, he ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and, out of panic, slit his wrist.

'_O-okay, this seems good enough.' _

Seeing the blood oozing out of his wrist, he ran to his room, got two towels and—just like his father said—soaked them with his blood. Soaking them completely, he ran to where he left Akashi. Getting there, he squeezed out the excess blood on the towels and patched up his bleeding attacker's wounds with them.

Successfully bandaging Akashi's bleeding hand with one of the towels, he was about to move on to his shoulder when he felt his head spin and his vision blur. Wobbling, he caught sight of the wound he made to himself.

'_Uhmm…I think I messed up.'_

Eventually, he passed out.

A few seconds later, his father finished conversing with the Shuuji man on the phone and went to the living room to check out his son's and the Akashi's status.

Seeing his son passed out on the floor with a bleeding wrist, his jaw dropped.

"KOUKI!"

* * *

**TBC…**

* * *

A/Ramble: Thanks for reading!—Ooh! ooh! Let me guess. Was the title 'Betrayal Knows My Name'? And omg, Nagisa, yes. He's such a sweetie. Can't wait for July (wanna see the boys in action again)!


	3. Reason

**Act 3**

—_Reason_

* * *

Nine long years had passed, Akashi could still recall, since he met _that boy_. He was around the same age as he was, possessed a pair of chocolate brown eyes, rich brown hair and was around the same height as he was.

That boy, although Akashi never got the chance to get his name—he'll never forget him, and the sight he made him see that day—the sight of fireworks bursting and 'stars' shining in the palm of his hands, his very own hands, as the boy kindly held his.

"_This is—"_

"_It's electricity. I can conjure and manipulate electricity. You said no one would like to come near you because of you have a special ability, right? I'm the same!"_

"…_Why are you showing me this?"_

"_Because, we're the same and I thought that maybe you'd appreciate this sight that I really worked hard on and not get scared instead because we're the same!"_

"_I—"_

"_Aside from my parents, only my brother can appreciate this without getting scared. It's a bit lonely."_

"_Lonely huh."_

"_Yeah. Lonely. But not too much, just a little bit, thanks to my brother, and, just now, you!"_

He had a beautiful smile, that boy. So beautiful, that it was electrifying in a way.

Akashi wanted to see it again—his smile, the fireworks and the stars—and above all, he wanted to see _him_ again. Even though he didn't know his name, even though he had no idea where to find him, even though they had only hanged out for a short period of time, he wanted to see him again. And he wasn't planning on settling down with anyone until he saw _that sight _and _that boy_, again.

Kill if he must, but there was just no way he was going to compromise his feelings—anything but his feelings for the person who managed to shock him alive in every possible way with his little sparks.

"_Akashi-kun,"_

How did he—

"_Akashi-kun,"_

* * *

"A-Akashi-kun, u-uhmm, Akashi-kun, a-are y-you o-okay?"

Akashi awakened to the sound of his name being called. In an alarmed demeanor, his eyes snapped open, only to see the face of the biggest hurdle he had to get through if he really wanted to see _that person _again. His brow arched and his mouth twitched.

"You're still alive?"

As he eyed the brunette from waist up, it was then when he realized that there was something _different_ _about him_.

"You, why do you look taller—_so much taller_?"

* * *

Furihata flinched at the question. How was he supposed to answer that in such way Akashi would be able to accept? Should he call out for help? Should he call his dad? Should he call Akashi's dad who just arrived some time ago and explained to him everything that needed to be explained? As he pondered on these things and began to stammer, Akashi found the answer himself—through a mirror (which was hung on the wall to his right).

A shadow floated above his face upon seeing his current state.

"_What did you do to me?_" he grimly asked.

Furihata gulped, "I…uhh…err…"

"Answer me, or I'll make sure to properly kill you this time around."

* * *

Hearing Akashi say what he just said, Furihata immediately panicked, "P-please d-don't! I-if you u-use anymore of y-your blood, i-instead of killing me, what you m-might succeed on d-doing i-is killing yourself! I… uhm… I'll tell you everything that I know s-so please d-don't move so much. Y-you're still injured and, t-to top everything up, poisoned."

Akashi's brows furrowed, "Poisoned? What do you mean by this?"

Furihata took a deep breath and began explaining.

"Well, uhm, in case you don't remember, earlier, this afternoon, you tried to kill me and well, while you were at it, there's this guy with grayish hair who suddenly popped out of nowhere, shot you, said something about revenge, you only having 124 more days to live and an antidote that you can only have if you find him—well, something like that—then disappeared into the shadows, like literally."

Taking in Furihata's words, Akashi tried to recall what had happened before he passed out. Although the flashback wasn't exactly vivid, it was clear enough for him to actually remember the things Furihata mentioned. Confirming that the brunette wasn't making things up, he snorted, "Then what?"

Furihata began rubbing his fingers together. Sweating a bit and feeling somewhat choked up thanks to the pressure Akashi's intimidating aura was causing him, he took a gulp before continuing.

"Y-you passed out. A-and w-well, i-it appears t-that y-you've shrunken back to your seven years old s-self. I brought you home o-out of p-pure panic a-and w-well, right n-now, y-your d-dad's actually here, outside, w-with m-my dad, a-and w-well, h-he e-explained t-to me e-everything, f-from t-the e-engagement, t-the s-special a-ability a-and a-as w-well a-as t-the b-bullet y-you were s-shot w-with. E-Eurhm, t-that b-bullet… according t-to your dad, i-it's called the 'Reverse Miracle Bullet'. I-it's a w-weapon crafted by the Kuroko Clan w-who are w-well-known for their 'shadow forgery'. T-the t-thing, a-along with the antidote a-and the r-recipe o-of the a-antidote, w-was r-reported t-to be stolen a few d-days a-ago b-by t-the o-only s-surviving m-member o-of t-the M-Mayuzumi C-Clan a-and w-well—"

Akashi cut him short with a glare, "Look. I don't want the history behind whatever caused me to become like this or so whatnot. What I want to know are its effects and how to get rid of it. Tell me what I _need _to know, you mouse. Don't waste my time with useless facts that have no use to me."

Furihata jolted, "A-ah, y-yes. O-of course, I… I'm s-sorry. R-right, w-well… a-as you can see, o-one of t-the effects i-is, w-well, the transformation. O-once s-shot, y-you shift back to t-the p-phase w-where y-you w-were, in terms of overall, weakest—like say, weakest in physical strength, emotional quotient, control over your special ability and so on and so forth. Another effect is death. After 124 days, the poison in the bullet will finally activate completely and thus kill you. T-the a-antidote, on t-the other hand, i-is an e-enigma. T-the only known fact about it is that—it exists and has safe-kept in an indestructible and magical cube that can only be unlocked if you are able to solve the riddle carved on it."

* * *

Akashi clicked his tongue.

One hundred twenty-four days—he only had 124 days left to look for _him_. It's fine even if he didn't get the antidote from Chihiro (Mayuzumi) on time. It's fine even if he died. He just wanted to see that person again, and this time, show _him_ a sight he had never seen before.

That alone would be enough.

"Uhmm, Akashi-kun," suddenly, Furihata struck another conversation.

"I… the engagement, I've heard about it. M-my dad a-and y-your dad explained t-to me w-what it is about. I-it seems like o-our families w-were f-former e-enemies a-and w-well, t-to f-formally p-put an end t-to the t-thousand y-years of r-rivalry, t-they've uhmm…planned this. I…" Furihata looked down, "I'm sorry."

With one brow raised up, Akashi nonchalantly muttered, "What are you apologizing for? It's not like it's your fault that I want to kill you. You didn't choose to be in your current disposition." He didn't really care.

"Because I should've been dead." he quietly murmured absentmindedly.

This earned him a questioning look from Akashi, "What?"

"A-Ahhm! N-no, I mean… w-well…uhh—"

Suddenly, the door opened.

"Kouki, what's taking you so lo—Oh! Shuuji's son, you're finally awake! You feelin' better? Want some snacks?"

Akashi snorted.

Great. Another mousy-looking brunette.

* * *

**TBC…**

* * *

A/Ramblings: Thanks for reading! Uraboku, uraboku (ohmygod, Tsukumo)! Watched that anime a few years ago. It wasn't bad at all. Mhmm, maybe I should also make some reference there. But idk, as if the current plot isn't complicated enough for me already. I'm seriously struggling (and so far, I don't think I'm doing that well keeping up with all this) DX. Anyway, I tried explaining things in this chapter. Hopefully, things are clearer now (but with a good type of ambiguity). HOPEFULLY. God, I feel like I'm butchering everyone's character. I hope to make it up in the future chapters to come. Really.


End file.
